Le Belle Epoch

Table of Contents (T. O. C.)• Nation Building, Internal Conflict, and Political Tensions/Reform

General Politics in Le Belle Epoch German Unification Italian Unification The Paris Commune British Prosperity and Political Discontent

• Social, Economic, Artistic, Technological, and Intellectual/Scientific Changes in Le Belle Epoch Social Changes in Le Belle Epoch Economics during Le Belle Epoch Art During Le Belle Epoch Technological Changes During Le Belle Epoch Intellectual/Scientific Changes During Le Belle Epoch Literature Changes During Le Belle Epoch

Nation Building, Internal Conflict, and Political Tensions/Reform

General Politics in Le Belle Epoch

• Governments often used republicanism. • Mass communication was used to influence public opinion.• Most countries were controlled by a ruling elite and other large

groups.• This use of mass politics by these groups often antagonized minority

groups and outsiders, which created conflict. • Despite this, there was democratic reform and the creation of the

welfare state.

German Unification

Kaiser Wilhelm I

Kaiser Wilhelm I

German Unification• Architect of the German Empire: Otto Von Bismarck

Sought dominance over AustriaRealpolitik: The ends justify the meansKey Beliefs: Take control over nationalism, liberal reform, and warsEnacted social welfare programsLed the kulturkampf against the Catholic church in order to preserve

unity in the empire but this ultimately failed.The only reforms Bismarck was able to get away with from this was state control of

education and civil laws governing marriage.

• “…The great decisions of the day will not be decided by speeches and majority decisions—that was the mistake of 1848-1849—but by iron and blood.” --- Bismarck’s first speech as minister

The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night.

Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied.

I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is made.

A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one.

Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will provoke the next war.

German Unification (con’t)

The Danish War

German Unification (con’t)

The Austro-Prussian War

German Unification (con’t)

• North German ConfederationLed to greater support for unification.Dominated by Prussia

• Ems DispatchLeopold von Hohenzalleran was asked to take the Spanish

throne after a revoltFrench protest, his name was retracted, French ask

German Kaiser to apologizeTelegram was doctored by Bismarck to make it seem like a German

offense toward Napoleon III, which led to…

German Unification (con’t)

The Franco-Prussian War

Treaty of Frankfurt

[1871]

The German Empire Is Finally Established!

Italian Unification

Italian Unification

• The Carbonari led insurrections for unification. Even though they were ineffective, they created a spirit of nationalism in Italy.• Count Camillo Cavour was elected Prime Minister of Piedmont in

1852• He believed that economic and material progress would lead

to a large, unified Italy.

Italian Unification (con’t)

• Cavour used the Crimean War to get involved in European politics. This impressed Napoleon III. The two later plotted to instigate a war against Austria. • War with Austria

France & Piedmont defeated Austria @ Magenta. Revolution broke out in Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and the

Romagna provinces of the papal states. These countries later united with Piedmont.

Austria ceded Lombardy, but not Venetia.

Italian Unification (con’t)

• Guiseppe Garibaldi led the campaigns that overran Sicily, and all of the southern peninsula except for the area around Rome.• Both Garibaldi’s possessions and Cavour’s possessions have been

combined to create a united Kingdom of Italy. • Two other territories have been added to the kingdom:

1866 Venetia (Austro-Prussian War)1870 Patrimony of St. Peter (French troops withdrawn due to

the Franco-Prussian War)

The Kingdom of Italy is

finally established!

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The Paris Commune

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The Paris Commune

• September 1870: France defeated at the battle of Sedan• Napoleon III abdicates the throne, third republic is established• Capitol of republic was in Versailles, NOT Paris.

Parisians angered by thisLed to opposition of government policies and an attempt to restore order

• Led to Paris Commune Revolt, which lasted from March 18th to May 28th 1871

Entire city of Paris barricaded and was declared independent from France

Back To T. O. C.

Civil War (Bloody Week)

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The Paris Commune (con’t)

• The Communards attempted to make reforms in their short time of rule:Trade UnionsWorkers to reopen defunct factoriesState-run schools, as opposed to church-run schoolsSchools for girlsDay nurseries near factories for working mothers

• The Commune was “a nation of relatively independent, radically democratic enclaves”. Its defeat served as a symbol of “the protection of property”.

British Prosperity

And Political Discontent

Great Britain

• Great Britain enjoyed much economic success in the 1850s to the 1870s.

Growth and free tradeShipbuilding transitioned from wood to ironBritish trade was dominant in the world; colonial holdings doubledEngineers built railroads all across the world.

Great Britain (con’t)

• The 1832 Reform Bill was seen as the last measure of political reform• 1860s: Middle & Working classes have grown, & they wanted the

franchise expanded.The question of new reform led to a realignment of political parties:The Tories (Conservative; led by Benjamin Disraeli)The Whigs (Liberal; led by William Gladstone)

Great Britain (con’t)

The 2nd Reform Bill:1866: Gladstone introduces moderate reform; crushed by conservatives1867: Radical reform bill introduced by Disraeli which passed w/ liberal

support.Components of the bill:

Franchise extended by 88%Vote given to landowners, & renters who paid a minimum of £10 for a room.Eliminated smaller, less developed boroughs that had a population of less than 10,000Extra representation for other cities like Manchester and Liverpoool.

Major Players in British Politics

William Gladstone

• Liberal Prime MinisterServed in 1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, and 1892-1894

• Active legislator/reformer, made populist speeches, supported “Little England” foreign policy.• Goals:

Decrease public spendingEducation Bill of 1870- free elementary education for all childrenCompetitive exams for civil serviceLegalize unions and the right to strike (1871)Secret ballots for elections (1872) Promote peace to reduce taxation and spending, and to promote trade.

Reduce tariffs.

• Referred to as “Gladstone’s Great Ministry”

William Gladstone

• Accomplishments during the “Great Ministry” (1868-1874):1868 Army reform: Banned peacetime floggingDisestablishment Act of 1869: Irish Catholics didn’t have to pay taxes to

the Anglican Church in Ireland.Irish Land Act of 1870: Prevented absentee Protestant landowners from

evicting their Irish Catholic tenants without compensation.University Test Act of 1871: non-Anglicans could attend British

universities.1872: The settlement of the CSS Alabama claims [from the U.S Civil

War] in U.S.’s favor.1873: Legislation was passed that restructured the High Courts.

William Gladstone

• The 2nd Ministry (1880-1885):1884 Reform Bill:

Franchise extended to farmers.Gave counties the same franchise as the boroughsAdded 6 million to the number of those who could vote in parliamentary elections

Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885:Changes the seats in the House of Commons to reflect demographic changes

• The 3rd Ministry (1886):Introduced Irish Home Rule Bill

Split the liberals and was swiftly defeated

• The 4th Ministry (1892-1894):1893: Irish Home Rule Bill reintroduced

Created an Irish Parliament, but did NOT provide independenceCatholics liked the bill while the Irish Protestants detested it.

Benjamin Disraeli

• Conservative Prime MinisterServed in 1868 and 1874-1880

• A brilliant debater, a strong imperialist, and had the respect of The Queen.• Supported the “Greater England” policy.• Accomplishments through The 2nd Reform Bill:

Give the Tories control over the reform processEncourage the labor class to vote for the conservatives

Benjamin Disraeli

• Disraeli’s Tory Democracy:Artisan Dwelling Act of 1875:

Government defines housing standards and provides housing for the working classPublic Health Act of 1875:

Placed standards on public and private health/well-being and allowed for modern sewer system in the big cities

Climbing Boys Act of 1875: Chimney sweeper licenses can only be given to adults

Conspiracy And Protection of Property Act of 1875:Gave new protection to trade unions and allowed for picket lines.Gladstone ministry did provide for workers rights but not to this extent.

Employers And Workmen Act of 1878:Employers could be sued by workers if they broke legal contracts.

The Irish Question

The Irish Question

• Irish nationalists sought home rule from the late 1860s onward.• The Gladstone Ministry extended some rights through the Irish Land

Act & Home Rule Bills, but these were accompanied by a Coercion Act, which sought to restore law and order in Ireland.• Charles Stewart Parnell was the leader of the Irish Home Rule

Movement.• Parnell organized Irish members of Parliament into one party that

voted as a unit. • The issue of Ireland created divisions within political

parties on normal British domestic policy. This led to the split of the Liberal Party and the rise of the Labor Party.

Social, Economic, Artistic, Technological, and Intellectual/Scientific Changes in Le Belle Epoch

Social Changes in Le Belle Epoch

• The age of the Middle Class (not the white collar workers)Created the Status Quo

• Individualism is not as expressed as in past times• More emphasis on materialism & the standard of living increased• Populations shifts:

60 million migrated from Europe from 1850-1940:Emigration to The United States, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, & Canada

Europe encompassed 1/5 of world population (450 million by 1914)

• Cities and urban life grewMore leisure; parks and dance & concert halls created

Social Changes in Le Belle Epoch

• Smaller families, improvements in health & living conditions• Gender roles became more distinct and Enlightened ideas were used

to raise kids.• Education

Many West Europeans became literateLiberals/Conservatives favored education because they believed it promoted

orderly political behavior and a more productive labor force. Nationalism was highly expressed, Xenophobia soon followed.

Social Changes: Judaism & Anti-Semitism• Most have been liberated due to the Enlightenment. • Famous Jews of this era: Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud• Jews were commonly attributed to money and banking interests, and

as finance capitalism changed the European economy, people hurt by such changes became hostile to the Jewish community. • Social Darwinism also was a factor (the thought of a “superior”

culture)

Social Changes: Judaism & Anti-Semitism

• The Dreyfus Affair:1894: French military documents were found in the garbage

can of the German Embassy in Paris.Jewish Commander Alfred Dreyfus was suspected, tried, and

found guilty of treason and was sent to Devil’s Island in French Guiana.

Real culprit was tried and found not guilty in two days.

• J’Accuse!In this open letter published by Émile Zola, the military was

accused of mistrial and cover-up.Zola found guilty of libel, sentenced to a year in prison.

• Public opinion was divided:Those who thought Dreyfus was innocent were anti-clerics,

intellectuals, and socialists. Those who thought he was guilty were Catholics, monarchists, and army supporters.

Social Changes: Judaism & Anti-Semitism

• Dreyfus was given a new trial in 1899Found guilty again but was given a presidential pardon.Dreyfus was completely exonerated by 1906.

• The divisions growing out of the Dreyfus affair continued to divide France until 1940.• This issue led Austro-Hungarian Theodor Herzl to

publish The Jewish State, which called for the creation of a country where Jewish people could live peacefully.

This led to the idea known as Zionism.

Social Changes: Feminism• Can work white collar jobs, but still raise the children. • 1850-1914 Women gained rights such in legal system, property ownership,

divorce and custody of kids• Women also challenged norms such as the traditional male dominated

family• Obscenity Laws prevented the publication of articles promoting birth control• Voting rights do not occur until after WWI• Emmeline Pankhurst: Women’s Social and Political Union

Used radical techniques such as arson

• Mary Wollstonecraft: Wrote The Vindication of the Rights of Woman• Virginia Woolf: Wrote A Room of One’s Own

Economics during Le Belle Epoch

• Corporations established the limited liability of investments.• Cartels controlled the prices• Free Trade and Protectionism• New world markets; boom and bust cycle

Keynesian Economics: Spend during economic downturns, save during economic success.

• Large amounts of consumerism; Department stores began to emerge in 1870

Art During Le Belle Epoch

• Impressionism focused on modern life through the painting scenes of the social life and leisured activities of the urban middle and lower middle classes. Important artists: Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, & Edgar Degas• Impressionists were fascinated with light and color.

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère – Édouard Manet 1882

Art During Le Belle Epoch

• Post-Impressionism built upon impressionism by relating earlier artistic traditions to their work. Form and structure were important in the post-impressionist works. • Important artists: Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Georges Seurat – 1884-86

Art During Le Belle Epoch

• Cubism differs from all other western art forms of the past 500 years in that it did not reproduce the appearance of reality. Rather, it used distorted two-dimensional shapes to give “many different perspectives, angles, and views of the object painted as much as possible”. Important artists: Pablo Picasso & Georges Braque

Guernica Pablo Picasso - 1937

Technological Changes During Le Belle Epoch

• New advancements in technology: 2nd Industrial Revolution

Transition from steam power to electricity and petroleum.Internal combustion and diesel enginesGermany and The United States surpass Britain as the dominant industrial powerhouses

(1900).New inventions include:

Larger factories Bessemer Steel Skyscrapers Chemicals Lighted Cities Refrigeration TNT X-Rays Assembly Lines Cars Steamships Airplanes (1903) Subways Suburbs Marconi’s RadioSuez Canal (1869), Panama Canal (1914), Transatlantic Telegraph Cable laid

Intellectual/Scientific Changes During Le Belle Epoch

• MedicineLouis Pasteur of France of Joseph Lister of Britain enhanced public awareness

of cleanliness in the 1850s.Medical schools underwent further development.

• ScienceCore of industrializationAuguste Comte & Positivism

Father of Sociology Three stages of the development of human thought:

1. Physical nature was explained through religion and mysticism.2. Metaphysical stage: “abstract principles” are what made nature function.3. Positive stage: Nature is explained through observation of phenomena, instead of and

without diverting to, an unobservable process

Intellectual/Scientific Changes During Le Belle Epoch

• Science (con’t)Charles Darwin

Wrote “On The Origin of Species And Natural Selection”“Survival of the fittest”; most important concept within the workImmensely controversial and was widely hated and refuted

Herbert SpencerTook Darwin’s ideas and formulated new a new idea called Social DarwinismStated that competition aids societal growth; this concept was applied to colonization of

other peoples and competition between nations.This in turn hardened the basis for Nationalism & Anti-Semitism, and formed the

groundwork for later theories such as Fascism. Albert Einstein introduces the theory of relativity.Marie Curie: discovered Radium, and discovered that atoms emitted

radioactivity. Has also made other contributions to both chemistry and physics.

Intellectual/Scientific Changes During Le Belle Epoch

• Sciences (con’t)William Roentgen discovers X-raysOther practices developed during this time such as Anthropology,

Archaeology, Sociology, Psychology, etc.

• PsychologySigmund Freud

The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) presented the view that “dreams allow unconscious wishes” that are not accessible in real life to have “freer play in the mind”.

Freud’s theory on the structure of the human mind consists of the conflict between these three entities.

Id: allows for sexual fulfillment Superego: moral standards established in our personalities by society and cultureEgo: balances the Id and Superego, and lets our personalities deal with inner/outer demands

of their existence.

Literature Changes During Le Belle Epoch

• Realism/NaturalismThese movements completely done away with Romantic idealsFocused on good/bad aspects of industrial statesPresented the harsh reality of life through the works. Important writers include Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, George Bernard Shaw,

and Leo Tolstoy.